21. Commitments and contingencies

In the normal course of business, various commitments and contingent liabilities are outstanding. The following table presents the Company’s significant commitments. Certain of these commitments are not included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet.

	December 31
	2017		2016
	(In thousands)
Commitments to extend credit
Home equity lines of credit	$	5,482,622		5,499,609
Commercial real estate loans to be sold		194,763		70,100
Other commercial real estate		6,050,569		6,451,709
Residential real estate loans to be sold		347,113		478,950
Other residential real estate		201,426		232,721
Commercial and other		12,733,815		12,298,473
Standby letters of credit		2,497,844		2,987,091
Commercial letters of credit		46,739		44,723
Financial guarantees and indemnification contracts		3,434,381		3,043,580
Commitments to sell real estate loans		812,217		1,489,237

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to customers, generally having fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses that may require payment of a fee. Standby and commercial letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Standby letters of credit generally are contingent upon the failure of the customer to perform according to the terms of the underlying contract with the third party, whereas commercial letters of credit are issued to facilitate commerce and typically result in the commitment being funded when the underlying transaction is consummated between the customer and a third party. The credit risk associated with commitments to extend credit and standby and commercial letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved with extending loans to customers and is subject to normal credit policies. Collateral may be obtained based on management’s assessment of the customer’s creditworthiness.

Financial guarantees and indemnification contracts are oftentimes similar to standby letters of credit and include mandatory purchase agreements issued to ensure that customer obligations are fulfilled, recourse obligations associated with sold loans, and other guarantees of customer performance or compliance with designated rules and regulations. Included in financial guarantees and indemnification contracts are loan principal amounts sold with recourse in conjunction with the Company’s involvement in the Fannie Mae DUS program. The Company’s maximum credit risk for recourse associated with loans sold under this program totaled approximately $3.3 billion and $2.8 billion at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Since many loan commitments, standby letters of credit, and guarantees and indemnification contracts expire without being funded in whole or in part, the contract amounts are not necessarily indicative of future cash flows.

The Company utilizes commitments to sell real estate loans to hedge exposure to changes in the fair value of real estate loans held for sale. Such commitments are considered derivatives and along with commitments to originate real estate loans to be held for sale are generally recorded in the consolidated balance sheet at estimated fair market value.

The Company occupies certain banking offices and uses certain equipment under noncancelable operating lease agreements expiring at various dates over the next 21 years. Minimum lease payments under noncancelable operating leases are summarized in the following table:

	(In thousands)
Year ending December 31:
2018	$	92,824
2019		87,298
2020		70,490
2021		54,685
2022		41,953
Later years		82,195
	$	429,445

The Company is contractually obligated to repurchase previously sold residential real estate loans that do not ultimately meet investor sale criteria related to underwriting procedures or loan documentation. When required to do so, the Company may reimburse loan purchasers for losses incurred or may repurchase certain loans. The Company reduces residential mortgage banking revenues by an estimate for losses related to its obligations to loan purchasers. The amount of those charges is based on the volume of loans sold, the level of reimbursement requests received from loan purchasers and estimates of losses that may be associated with previously sold loans. At December 31, 2017, the Company believes that its obligation to loan purchasers was not material to the Company’s consolidated financial position.

Prior to M&T’s acquisition of Wilmington Trust Corporation, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) commenced an investigation of Wilmington Trust Corporation relating to Wilmington Trust Corporation’s financial reporting and securities filings, as well as certain commercial real estate lending relationships involving its subsidiary bank, Wilmington Trust Company, all of which relate to filings and activities occurring prior to the acquisition of Wilmington Trust Corporation by M&T. On January 6, 2016, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware obtained an indictment against Wilmington Trust Corporation relating to alleged conduct that occurred prior to M&T’s acquisition of Wilmington Trust Corporation in May 2011 (United States v. Wilmington Trust Corp., et al, District of Delaware, Crim. No. 15-23-RGA). On October 9, 2017, Wilmington Trust Corporation reached a civil settlement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware to resolve this matter. Under the terms of the agreement, Wilmington Trust Corporation agreed to pay $60 million. The settlement amount included $16 million previously paid by Wilmington Trust Corporation to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a related action. Wilmington Trust Corporation did not admit any liability, nor was there any finding of wrongdoing. All indictments and charges against Wilmington Trust Corporation were dismissed by Court order on October 12, 2017.

M&T and its subsidiaries are subject in the normal course of business to various pending and threatened legal proceedings and other matters in which claims for monetary damages are asserted. On an on-going basis management, after consultation with legal counsel, assesses the Company’s liabilities and contingencies in connection with such proceedings. For those matters where it is probable that the Company will incur losses and the amounts of the losses can be reasonably estimated, the Company records an expense and corresponding liability in its consolidated financial statements. To the extent the pending or threatened litigation could result in exposure in excess of that liability, the amount of such excess is not currently estimable. Although not considered probable, the range of reasonably possible losses for such matters in the aggregate, beyond the existing recorded liability, was between $0 and $50 million. Although the Company does not believe that the outcome of pending litigations will be material to the Company’s consolidated financial position, it cannot rule out the possibility that such outcomes will be material to the consolidated results of operations for a particular reporting period in the future.